Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

Posted on: May 28, 2009 5:30 am

LOS ANGELES -- An NBA playoff series doesn't begin until you have a good ol' referee conspiracy.

Conspiracy theory, I should add.

And a deeply flawed one.

Nonetheless, we're in for an interesting day in the Los Angeles area Thursday now that a member of the Nuggets has told the Denver Post -- anonymously, of course -- that he believes the Lakers bought their 103-94 victory over the Nuggets in Game 5 Wednesday night for the very reasonable price of $50,000.

For those keeping score at home, that's how much Lakers coach Phil Jackson and the Lakers paid in fines for complaining about the officiating after Game 4.

"The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game," the anonymous Nuggets player told the Post. "They got their money's worth."

The player did not allow his name to be used, for fear of retribution from the league, the Post reported. But let's be fair. The player didn't allow his name to be used because he didn't want to pay a fine himself for such a salacious comment. If I were Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke, I'd make it my business to find out who said that, and deduct the inevitable fine that will be assessed to the Nuggets from his paycheck.

If it was Kenyon Martin, for example, I'd ask him to forfeit $10,000 of his game check for each of the nine shots he missed from the field.

If it was Nene, for instance, I'd ask him to pay up for each of the 33 points Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom combined to score in the paint that he was supposed to have been defending.

It doesn't matter who said it, really. What matters is that the Nuggets have resorted to a different sort of dirty trick than the one that raised Jackson's ire after Game 4. This was worse than Dahntay Jones tripping Kobe Bryant in that game. This reeked of sour grapes.

The Nuggets were called for 30 personal fouls in Game 5 Wednesday night. The Lakers were called for 22. The resulting disparity of five free throws wasn't enough to account for the nine-point difference on the scoreboard. But that's not the point.

I don't pretend to have watched all 52 fouls called in the game, nor have I gone frame-by-frame through all the fouls that weren't called. And as busy as I'll be Thursday getting reaction from the various parties involved, I won't have time. But that's not the point. To the naked eye, it was a liberally officiated game at both ends of the floor by referees Monty McCutcheon, Ron Garretson, and Tom Washington. Obvious contact in the act of shooting and/or driving to the basket was ignored at both ends.

Before the game, Jackson playfully commented on his $25,000 fine -- an additional $25,000 was assessed to the Lakers -- by saying, "I'm a gardener. I like planting seeds. Constantly."

After the game, Nuggets coach George Karl channeled his inner Stan Van Gundy, lamenting the fact that playoff games have turned into a contest of which coach can gripe the most in hopes of influencing the officials.

"I'm not going to get fined," said Karl, who proceeded to make comments that almost certainly will get him fined. "... It was a difficult whistle to play, no question about that. Every player in my locker room is frustrated, from guards to big guys. Look at the stat sheet. Gasol goes after at least 20 jump shots and 20 shots to the rim and gets one foul. Our big guys have 16. I don't know. Nene has six fouls; three or four of them don't exist. And it's frustrating when you take one of your big guys off the court for that many minutes.

"I think Stan Van Gundy says it right," Karl continued. "In the postgame, we're lobbying for the league to help us with the refereeing. And this is too good a series. It's too good of teams competing that we're sitting here just confused by the whistle."

I don't think the referees had anything to do with the Nuggets' 5-for-21 shooting in the fourth quarter. I don't think the referees had anything to do with Denver's four consecutive turnovers in the third, when the Lakers started making their move. But I disagree with one anonymous Nuggets player -- speaking for the entire locker room, apparently. We'll see Thursday, when the teams speak with the media before flying to Denver, if anybody backs him up.

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

"The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game," the anonymous Nuggets player . "They got their money's worth." If it was , for example, I'd ask him to forfeit $10,000 of his game check for each of the nine shots he missed from the field. Well you can certainly cross Kenyon Martin off the list. We all know he doesn't speak clear enough English to make that statement. Odds are it would have come out more along the lines of something like this -

"Them Lakers done bought that game for 50 large. They got money worth on that like I did got worth on my lips tattoo on my neck."

At least that is what viewing his past statements would me to believe!

On another note, NBA officiating sucks. It doesn't just suck for one team most of the time - usually it goes both ways. I love how players and coaches from particular teams will whine about officiating when they feel it loses them a game but when it goes in their favor (Mavs - Nuggets Game 3 for instance) you don't hear a word about it. Actually I remember George Karl saying he thought the officiating was fine at the end of that game. Meanwhile the NBA even went on record to point out it was a blown call.

So according to the Nuggets anonymous player, one would have to suspect that that game must have been bought by the Nuggets themselves. Perhaps the anonymous player speaks from experience when saying it cost $50,000 to win a game. Maybe they already knew the going rate.

I do get some pleasure from this though! I said many times over that all of the Nuggets fans on this message board who were attempting to stand up for their Game 3 victory would soon be on the other side of the argument. They consitantly said that officials don't win and lose games. They insulted Mavs fans left and right for our outrage at the conclusion of Game 3. I pointed out (once the Nuggets were up 3-0) that they would soon be the ones bitching about officiating because they would not get the benefit of the calls against the Lakers - the NBA just doesn't work that way - and look at you now!!! Shoe doesn't fit so well when it's on the other foot now does it?

Since: Apr 12, 2007

Posted on: May 28, 2009 3:53 pm

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

This is the most bogus thread i have ever seen, everyone on here is a hater, i watched the game twice last night to see if i could find any missed calls, and i give you this, there was a blatent no call when Nene was driving to the hoop and had his arms wacked, that was a bad no call, he should have got the foul, but at that point in the game, it in no way was a deciding factor to the outcome of the game, and as far as kenyon martins misses, most of them were scared to drive the rim tear drop misses that were barely contested, and the 5-21 in the fourth quarter were threes and jump shots launched at the rim with a prayer, and there were no, no calls on those shots, just bad choices and no ball movement on the nuggets behalf, the nuggets lost that game period, they let the lakers get ahead, and shot with reckless, and foul-less, abandon, and then they want to cry about it, if they had continued handing the lakers their asses through the whole game and won, there would have been no complaints on either side, but if the lakers kicked their ass the whole game, they wouldnt have complained either, the only reason we are hearing this BS from the nuggets players and coaches is because they blew a chance to go home with a 3-2 lead and eliminate the lakers, instead they are on the verge of elimination and need a reason to cry about it, and cant handle blaming themselves for careless basketball, i believe the nuggets would have won the game, but NENE couldnt keep his mouth shut and got a technical which resulted in a big enough lead for the lakers to take it home, and all the three point plays the lakers made were a result of desperate nugget defenders watching what could have been there ticket to the finals slip away from them, quit your crying nuggets, and act like real men and get after em in the next game. And leave the pouting for you mothers behind closed doors, cus the fans, the other team, and real men, dont want to hear it.

Since: Feb 4, 2009

Posted on: May 28, 2009 3:47 pm

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

thIS IS SO TRUE. lAKERS DID BUY A WIN. nENES FOUL THAT FOULDED HIM OUT WAS DEF. AN OFFENSIVE FOUL ON gASOUL. eVERYONE WANTS IT TO BE THE cAVS AND lAKERS WATCH TONIGHT i BET CHA THE mAGIC WILL GET HOSED.

Since: Mar 16, 2008

Posted on: May 28, 2009 3:47 pm

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

way too many phantom fouls called against Denver players. I really dont see how Gasol doesnt foul out in the firs half, the refs are so lenient on all the hacks and arm flails that he throws at players in the paint.

Since: Apr 21, 2009

Posted on: May 28, 2009 3:44 pm

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

I would recommend you check out the The Nuggets took a total of 30 FTs to the Lakers 35. 35 - 30 = 5.

Since: Aug 29, 2007

Posted on: May 28, 2009 3:33 pm

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

You left one thing out the NBA wants the Huge LA market to watch the finals.. So Denver is already behind the eight ball.. Denver is the better team but Kobe is the best player. Go nuggets!!!!!!

Since: Feb 7, 2008

Posted on: May 28, 2009 3:29 pm

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

The game has changed, on every single play you could call traveling, palming the ball, hand check, push in the back, etc. The game is nothing like the game I was taught to play. I was taught 1 and 1/2 steps, any more is traveling, I was taught you couldnt palm the ball when traveling, these guys hold the ball for almost a second some times without putting it back on the floor continuing their dribble, over the back, come on this could be called on most every rebound. Lose ball on the floor, you dive on the guy and get a jump ball called, that used to be a foul. Cuban called the Nuggets thugs, that is an understatement, MOST of the guys playing are thugs, tatoos, weird hair, gang signs.....the game has become almost unwatchable, I dont watch any regular season pro basketball, I watch the playoffs to see Kobe and Lebron. Its like Hockey, I dont understand the penalties in that game either, pushing and shoving a guy driving with the puck, smacking him with the stick.....and now I dont know what a foul, or traveling is in pro basketball either.....

Since: Dec 11, 2006

Posted on: May 28, 2009 3:29 pm

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

Natelville has some good points. The referees are somewhat of a problem but the factis that there were calls that went against each team that could have gone the other way.The block that went against NENE before his 6th foul, maybe it was hjis 6th actually, should havbebeen a charge. He didn't spread his feet out which is the reason they often call that one a block.But the refs have a helluva time callling games in the playoffs bercause everyone plays hard, all thetime, except for a couple of Lakers. But thje truth is that, like in the regular season, the home teamusually gets more of the calls. That is nothing new.Now the3 disparity of the fouls, with Gasol only getting 1 and the Nuggetts getting 16, is somethingthat will be corrected and should be, least of all due to the respect the Neggetts command and thefact that NENE is a talented skilled player not just a jo scho big guy,Sort of reminds me of the game in Scaremento a few years ago where the lakers were down 3-2 andthe somehow came out with a win, in the face of incredible calls going against Sacramento.That was likely more legitimate a beef as they were at Sacramento.Denver will win game 6 and the Lakers will squeak by in game 7, maybe.Stern does have his fav orites and the referees know that; while it shouldn't come down to thatthough it often does.

Since: Apr 21, 2009

Posted on: May 28, 2009 3:28 pm

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

BREAKING NEWS!!! NBA Coach complains about officiating after game! Seriously, is this even newsworthy? I can barely contemplate what an NBA post game news confrence would be like without whinning and crying from players and coaching staff on the losing team about the officials. The way these guys talk you would think that in the NBA, talent has no affect on the game's outcome; whichever teams gets the calls wins. What a poor bunch of babies, except for one thing... they're not entirely wrong. The very nature of an officiated basketball game is highly dependent on how the game is called. Refs in the NBA are human which means they are both prone to making mistakes, easy to to in what may be the most difficult game to call consistently and they are not impervious to comments and critisisms. In the NBA especially, the officials can make serious changes to the flow of the game by affecting the tempo, the players on the floor and the type of play they allow. Because the NBA is clearly a game of runs and momentum, even a slight discrepency can seriously affect the outcome. I believe this was most recently exposed in the conviction of ref Tim Donaghy. Apparently when the Kings cried foul after game 6 of the 2002 west finals they had a pretty legitimate beef. So where am I going with this? Yes, the refs do affect the outcome of the game but no, it isn't because the Lakers paid $50,000 in fines. Shut up and play hard and if you really want to influence the officiating crew don't cry to mamma Stern after the game, call your bookie!

Since: May 15, 2009

Posted on: May 28, 2009 3:27 pm

Nuggets accuse Lakers of buying a win

If you have watched even one game of the Playoffs and I have watched every game you can clearly tell that the Refs have been Instructed to do everything they can to make sure The Finals are a Kobe vs Lebron showdown to boost Ratings and bring them more money......Lebron fouls more then anyother superstar out there and gets called for less fouls then any superstar out there,Playoffs or Regular Season.......Orlando has done there part agianst the odds to send lebron Home(thank God,he's all most out of here)....Then hopefully i won't have to see another Dumb muppetts comercial for awhile......Come on people it was funny once but not 15 times a night.......Lebron and Kobe are Great Players don't get me wrong but there way to cocky for my Blood for me to root for.......For thos of you who are old enough,Remember Magic,Bird and MJ.......Never talked the way K and L do and had championships and had whats more important the Quan of the People(watch jerry maguire if ya don't know what it means).......The same way we hated The Bad Boys and rooted agianst them is the same way the masses are rooting agianst these two.........

Both Dener and Orlando have legitimate bitches agianst the officials........